Tuesday morning, and Calvin's mom came into the driveway, ready to start her day of work. While her husband had a good job, she was never the kind of person to like just sitting around doing nothing, and so she had set up kind of a home business in her home driveway. However, her heavy safety boots grime covered overalls and welder's mask made it quickly apparent that this was no cleaning service or clothing repair service...unless she serviced exclusively robots and knights of course. No, Ava was a mechanic. That was where her son got his passion.

Ava was always a tomboy growing up. She had never been one to care about dolls or dresses or princesses, she was always the kid that wanted to build things. When she was in kindergarten, she was always in the sand pit with her bucket and spade. By the time she was in elementary she had graduated to Lego. But when her dad had taken her to a drag race for her tenth birthday, the first time she had heard an engine roar and watched a car being launched from a standing start to over sixty miles an hour in seconds, she had discovered a passion that had dominated the rest of her life.

She didn't have any real ambition to start a "proper business" as many would say. She had begun doing services for her neighbours and when word spread she only started charging people nominal amounts to cover her expenses, but the truth was she would gladly work for free. She was never happier than when she was elbow-deep in oil and engine parts, trying to find out what made that little pinging sound someone reported or getting that little extra gas mileage to give a car another couple of years before the owner needed to replace it.

When she got to the driveway, expecting to get started on the car she had scheduled for her client, she found to her surprise that Calvin was still there. She could see his hood was open and he had his arms inside, working with some of the parts.

"Calvin?" She asked. "I thought you left ages ago."

"Yeah, I just had a little tune up to do." He told his mom. "Nitro's been running a little rough lately. The power seems to drop off pretty sharply for some reason. I was going to try re-working a few things."

"If you don't hurry you're going to be late." Ava warned her son. He just shrugged.

"There's a bus in fifteen minutes that'll get me there if worst comes to the worst." He replied. "I was looking for an engineering project for class...I guess I could try the new part I've been working on see if that helps the power output..."

"You've been working on a new part?" His mom asked with a smile. She loved hearing when Calvin was working on new stuff. She had taught him virtually all he knew growing up.

When he was a kid, she would often let him sit and watch her, explaining what all the pieces of the engine did and how they went together. When he was a little older she would even let him clean parts and put some simple things together for her. His pride and joy was when she let him build Nitro, practically from scratch. That said, Ava had noticed over the last year his skills had gone to new heights. He had taken Nitro from a gas-guzzling, smoke spewing, barely legal clunker to something that wouldn't look out of place in a show room! He was no longer just repairing the problems; he was improving on the initial design and even inventing his own systems. He had actually re-worked the entire fuel intake in a way that cut his gas mileage by almost thirty percent! "Can I see?"

"It's...kind of a work in progress." He told her, pulling scraps of paper out of his various pockets. She had to try not to laugh. Some things never changed. Calvin seemed to be more of a spatial thinker than a paper thinker. He could imagine how things worked in kind o "hologram" that only he could see. It wasn't uncommon to see him staring into space moving his hands around putting together invisible engine parts. Ava did it too, it was one of their shared habits that amused and confused everyone else in equal measure. When it came to writing things down though...he had a habit of just grabbing whatever came to hand than having the organisational skills to have a notebook. Take-away menus, old envelopes, even a used Kleenex all formed part of his plan. She took a look at his plans and mused on them for a moment.

"This is...this is really interesting work." She told him. "You know, maybe your old mom could give you a few pointers..."

"No, thanks mom." Calvin chuckled. "I think I've got this one."

"Oh, it's no trouble; it looks like it'd be fun!" She told him. Calvin just closed up his hood after patching up his work so that he could use the truck. He would finish it later on.

"Thanks, but I really think I've got this." Calvin assured her, getting into Nitro and starting her up. "Besides, Mrs Daniels will be expecting her tune up finished today. I'll catch you when I get home!"

As he pulled out of the driveway, heading for the school, Ava just sighed.

"Yeah, because THAT'LL be as exciting as inventing a whole new part." She muttered. As she was turning back to her work, she noticed that Calvin had forgotten his 'designs' in his hurry to get to school. She was looking between Mrs Daniel's car and the designs, biting her lip nervously.

"She wants a tune-up if she drives her car further than the end of the street. That's a five-minute job." She said as she looked over Calvin's designs. "Hmm...That's interesting...I think...it isn't EXACTLY how he wanted it, but...I think I could make up a concept model for him to have a look at."

Over at the police station, Trevor was still on restricted duties, but he couldn't help but think about Hastings' office, and the mystery of the voice that was now in his head more and more of the time.

He had seen her go in and out of the room, and could see that it was a very simple key lock. It was startlingly low-tech for a woman who headed up one of the world's first trillion dollar tech companies, but being a police station there were video cameras all around. He was perfectly certain the only reason she didn't bother replacing the door to her office with some space-age DNA, Retinal-scan, Finger-print voice operated 007 deal was because she was sure no cop would ever actually want to break into her office. Trevor had walked the hall a couple of times, taking evidence boxes and files from one place to the other passing her door a few times, each time taking a quick glance for the cameras.

He was well aware of how cameras operated, he'd seen security protocols and how they worked long before he became a cop. Cameras had a peripheral vision much like human eyes, which meant they also had blind spots just like human eyes. Unfortunately after a while he figured out that there were enough cameras in the hall that the door especially was covered. There was no way to approach without being seen on at least one.

There was also no way to knock out the cameras. It would look pretty suspicious if he started covering cameras or breaking them, not to mention if he wasn't being fired for attacking the Rangers the last thing he could afford to do was give them an excuse like an open-and-shut case of vandalism of department property. No, he needed to find another way to get a window to get into the office unseen.

He headed into the security room, finding Ricky, one of the kids that operated the department's digital security division munching his way through a bag of Doritos. He rolled his eyes seeing him. He knew the world was becoming increasingly digital, and that surveillance equipment and computers now comprised a much larger part of the job of the department than ever before, but there was a part of him that still felt like a dinosaur as it seemed like as the department became more and more automated, the staff seemed to be aging backwards! Ricky had hair that was a little too long, and very messy, and his uniform was covered in food crumbs. He had energy drinks cans and junk food wrappers littered all around him. He looked more like he belonged in a frat house than a police department! He didn't even notice as Trevor walked up behind him.

"So yes, go and buy this SJW piece of trash if you must! Watch as the libtards ruin comics for all of us!" He said aloud as he typed on the social media site he was on. "X-men was never about oppressed people! It was about people learning to use their superpowers! Keep politics out of comics! Hashtag Comicsgate!"

"You ARE aware X-men was written originally as a DIRECT allegory of the Civil Rights movement, casting Professor Xavier in the role of Martin Luther King right?" Trevor asked. Ricky clamped his hand over his heart as he jumped in fright.

"Jeez, give a guy a heart attack much?" Ricky complained. "Bloody hell Marx, what are you doing in here?"

"Oh, I'm just wondering what a department salary buys in a kid straight out of Cal Tech." Trevor stated. "Apparently a shit ton of garbage and no trash can."

"I don't think you're in much of a position to criticise anyone's work right now Marx." Ricky snorted. "What do you want here?"

"What makes you think...?"

"I've worked here 18 months and this is the first time you've spoken to me." Ricky interrupted him, tapping the monitors. "The only reason I know who you are is these things. So, you've come into my dominion, I'm holding court, what do you want from the king?"

"Really?" Trevor sighed, before shaking his head. "I was wondering if you could do me a favour. I need the cameras down for about ten minutes."

"Really?" Ricky asked him. "Why would you want the cameras down?"

"Do you really care?" Trevor asked.

"I care what it means to you." Ricky said with an arrogant smile, rubbing his fingers together. "What's it worth?"

"How about...your job?" Trevor asked him. Ricky laughed.

"What do you have on me?" Ricky asked.

"Well, apart from the social media usage..."

"You think Captain Raymond gives a shit if I put out a tweet or two on shift?" Ricky snorted. Trevor shoved him aside and pulled up another page that he had active. "Wait, what are you...? HEY!"

"Really?" Trevor asked, looking to the site and then to Ricky in disgust. "Dude, I'm not saying I've never bought an adult magazine or something but that...that's just pathetic!"

"I...I...I was looking it up for...a case!" He stammered out. "They're investigating to make sure none of those models are underage..."

"Yeah, and next you'll be telling me you just read it for the articles." Trevor replied sarcastically. Ricky sighed and turned to another screen.

"There's an anti-virus update I've been meaning to do. It'll put the cameras out for about fifteen minutes while it runs." Ricky told him.

"Give me two minutes to get into position and then start it." Trevor told him, heading for the door. "Oh, and by the way? One of the X-men's most prominent and regular villains was Senator Kelly a senator that was campaigning to make segregation and persecution of mutants legal. It's ALWAYS been political jackass!"

As he left, Ricky just snorted and turned back to his screen.

Meanwhile, over at the school, Sarah, Preston and Brody were all talking over breakfast when Calvin and Hayley arrived. Sara checked her watch.

"Wow, you two are cutting it fine." She commented. "Calvin will only have time for two bowls of cereal instead of the usual three."

"Ha, ha!" Calvin responded sarcastically. Hayley just looked to him witheringly.

"Well, someone was a little caught up in his shop class project and almost ran late." Hayley informed them.

"I was tinkering! I had tons of time!" Calvin protested. "Usual Hayls?"

"Just a banana this morning." She told him. "Thanks to someone I don't have much time."

As Calvin left to get their breakfast, Hayley sat down.

"So, any idea what he's doing?" Preston asked. "Sarah and I are working on the battery for her hoverboard."

"I've been working on it for weeks." Sarah said proudly. "Today I actually got as far as the steps on a single charge with both of us riding."

"That's pretty epic!" Brody said as he ate some yoghurt.

"So what are you working on?" Sarah asked him.

"I don't know, some app or something." He replied.

"Well, what does it do?" Hayley asked him.

"I have no idea." Brody replied with a shrug.

"So you don't know what it is, how it works or what it does?" Preston asked. "How does that work?"

"My partner is Emma." Brody told them. They all groaned.

"That girl you've been giving ninja lessons to?" Sarah asked.

"Yup." Brody answered.

"The programming whiz kid?" Hayley asked.

"Yup."

"So...basically she's doing the project and you stand next to her looking pretty?" Preston asked. Brody smiled.

"What can I say? It's nice when things work out like that." Brody answered.

"Well, Calvin is working on a new engine part." Hayley told them. "And even though I am NOT a mechanic, I am actually working on helping him! I'm writing up the specs and the designs."

"That's good. You don't want him to do all the work do you?" Brody teased her. The others just threw napkins at him.

"So where's Viera?" Hayley asked.

"Oh, she was the odd-one out, so she volunteered to become a three person team with Victor and Monty." Preston told them.

"Wow, there's a shocker." Brody chuckled. "I couldn't possibly think what the attraction is there."

"Don't tease; I think it's kind of sweet!" Sarah said, looking over to where she could see Viera arriving with Victor and Monty, who were carrying some kind of strange device that she presumed, was their project.

"Would you say the same if it was Victor she was crushing on?" Preston asked.

"Ew, God no!" Sarah replied with a shudder. Just then, Calvin came back with two bowls of cereal and Hayley's banana.

"Cal...I was joking when I said you'd have time for two bowls." Sarah told him. "There's only like five minutes until the bell."

"Want a bet?" He asked her, picking up his spoon. The others just stopped and stared as he started to shovel the cereal into his mouth.

"Say Cal, I didn't know you were related to Barry Allen." Sarah commented.

"I'll just be happy if he doesn't swallow the spoon." Hayley replied, patting her boyfriend on the back.

Meanwhile, back in the precinct, Trevor was waiting for the cameras to go down, keeping his eye on the door. He cursed his luck as he saw Grace heading for her door.

"No, no, no, no!" He grumbled. "You've got to be kidding! This is..."

Just then, her cell phone rang. She answered it.

"Sterling." She said. "Are you sure? OK, send it to my...wait, what do you mean in person?"

Trevor looked up as he heard this.

"Why exactly can't you just e-mail it?" She asked. She sighed hearing the voice on the other end. "Fine, I'll meet. Where do you want to...? You're kidding! That's miles away! That'll take all day!"

Trevor got a little smile on his face. It looked like his luck was turning.

"Alright, but you better have something good in that file Scott." She warned him. "I'll be there!"

With that, she hung up and left. Trevor then noticed the lights under the cameras going off and realised now was his time to move. Going to the door to her office, he pulled out some lock picks. Quickly looking up and down the hall to make sure he wasn't likely to be seen, he started to work, quickly opening the door.

"Just like riding a bike." He commented as he went inside. It somehow felt different being in Sterling's office. Before, he had only noticed how neat, how ornate and how intimidating things were, but now she wasn't there, he could take in more of the detail about the room. The desk was still intimidating, in a headmaster's office kind of way, but the rest of the room had a lot more details of the life the woman had lived.

True to form, there were diplomas practically papering a whole wall, interspersed with various newspaper clippings and photographs detailing who she had met and positions she had held.

He smiled a little seeing all her pictures from her time in NASADA. She was a lot younger then, but what was a lot more prominent to him was that she smiled. It was unusual to think of a time where she had hopes and dreams and things that made her happy. One of the most well-known facts about Grace was that she was on the shortlist for the Apollo 11 mission, but ended up missing out on it to Neil Armstrong. It was a testament to how well regarded she was that she was widely considered a strong contender, but even then 1969 was still a very different time and a lot of people just weren't ready to see a woman being the first person to set foot on the moon and represent the nation.

He could hear the voice whispering in his head.

"You're here; you're here to claim what is rightfully yours." It said. Trevor turned towards the curved dagger on the glass case on the wall and went over to it. He still didn't understand what he was hearing, but something about it just felt powerful. "Yes, you know what to do."

Trevor grabbed the glass case, but he couldn't open it. He tried lifting it, but the whole thing was attached to the wall firmly. He couldn't see how to detach it. He started to survey it, and found to his surprise the glass was a lot thicker than he initially believed. It looked like it could stop a bullet!

"Release me!"

That was easier said than done though. He looked around, finding a keypad underneath the case and realised it was a combination lock. He typed in zeros to find out how many digits it was.

"Eight digits." He sighed as he got the red light. That wasn't good news. There were millions of possible combinations! He couldn't possibly try them all! He started to think, trying to imagine what it might be. He knew people often chose things that were easy to remember for passwords and codes, but that required at least some knowledge of the person.

"Eight digits." He said again, pulling out his phone and checking his internet. He pulled up Grace's Wikipedia page, finding her date of birth. Punching it in, he got another red light.

"It was worth a shot." He muttered, thinking again. He tried another option. It was clear the Apollo mission was important to her from her decor, so he tried the landing date. "21071969."

He cursed loudly as he got another red light. He turned and started to look around the office. If he was going to guess the code, he had to find out a little more about her.

He looked for other prominent dates, things he might look for, but that was pretty difficult for a woman with so many accomplishments. There were so many possible dates. Meeting Presidents, world leaders, Nobel Prize winners, winning a Nobel or two herself! It was becoming impossible to think of just one!

He found a photo he found unusual, one that didn't actually have Grace in it. It looked like some kind of pop star from the 60's. He smiled to imagine Grace as a young woman going to concerts.

"I thought you'd be more of an opera woman." He said, reading the plaque. "Jamie Gilmore, June 14 1945 to August 6 1969?"

It was then he noticed the black ribbon around the frame and an inscription.

"The mark of a true hero is those they save will never know they've been saved." He read aloud. It looked like this wasn't just a dedication from a fan, it felt like she actually knew this man. He saw another picture similarly trimmed a little further down, and looked at it. It was a very large, powerfully built blonde man in the frame, with a stern expression. "Nicolai Chukarin, January 8 1936 to...August 6 1969?"

He looked around and found a third picture. This one showed a man standing in a university, wearing a CND t-shirt. He read the inscription.

"Daniel O'Halloran, May 12 1948 to...August 6 1969?" He asked. "What the hell?"

He checked all three pictures again, and one glaring thing stood out.

"They all died on the same day, August 6 1969." He commented, before checking Grace's Wikipedia page again. "Sterling resigned from NASADA the following day! What the hell happened?"

He went back to the case and typed in the date, 08061969. The case sprang open, allowing him inside. He heard the voice again, this time louder than before.

"Yes, that's it!" The voice stated. "Reach out, seize your destiny!"

Trevor reached out, grabbing the dagger, only to feel a massive power surge through him. Then the world faded to black.